00:00The Trump administration, by the way, has been much more forthcoming with the legal rationale behind these strikes than prior administrations.
00:05President Obama conducted over 500 drone strikes, killing over 3,700 persons.
00:12The Department of War has now briefed Congress more than 20 times in bipartisan classified settings on these strikes.
00:19Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth have briefed the Gang of Eight and the Gang of 16 as well.
00:23I've been in those briefings myself.
00:25The Department of War has shown video of the September 2nd strike to the Gang of Eight.
00:30Yeah, so we just received a briefing from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State and our top military officials on the strikes against the narco-terrorists off the coast of Venezuela.
00:44Questions are still being answered by members, but I think the information that was provided was very helpful.
00:49It affirms what many of us have already known.
00:52And I'm going to share some thoughts with you about what was shared in there, but ultimately the big question about what authority supports all this.
01:00The President of the United States has directed these actions consistent with his responsibility.
01:06And that responsibility is clear to protect Americans and United States interests abroad
01:11and in furtherance of the United States' national security and foreign policy interests pursuant to his constitutional authority.
01:18He has that authority as commander-in-chief and as the chief executive to conduct foreign relations.
01:24As the commander-in-chief, President Trump has both the authority and the obligation to defend our homeland, and I think that's beyond dispute.
01:31Pursuant to this constitutional authority and the law of armed conflict,
01:36the President determined that the United States is in non-international armed conflict.
01:40That's N-I-A-C as the acronym is known, and that is with designated terrorist organizations and their affiliates
01:47who have evolved into complex structures with financial means and parliamentary capabilities needed to operate with impunity,
01:56engage in violence and terrorism.
01:58That presents a clear and present danger to the security of America and threaten other nations in our hemisphere.
02:03I want to make this point very clear.
02:06Over the last four years alone, America has lost more lives to drug overdoses and other drug-related deaths
02:12than we did to the enemy actions in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq combined.
02:19This is a serious problem that a serious administration is addressing.
02:24These are highly organized and sophisticated narco-terrorist organizations,
02:27and they operate, as we said, with impunity.
02:32And the President has determined that these cartels constitute the legally defined groups
02:39that allow us to take these actions.
02:41The Trump administration, by the way, has been much more forthcoming with the legal rationale behind these strikes
02:46than prior administrations.
02:47And I want to point out this one example.
02:50From 2009 to 2015, President Obama conducted over 500 drone strikes,
02:57killing over 3,700 persons, some of whom were United States citizens,
03:03and he never offered any legal justification to Congress at all.
03:07The Department of War has now briefed Congress more than 20 times
03:10in bipartisan classified settings on these strikes.
03:14Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth have briefed the Gang of Eight and the Gang of Sixteen as well.
03:18I've been in those briefings myself.
03:20The administration has also made available multiple documents to the Hill,
03:24including the Office of Legal Counsel Opinion, which has been reviewed by over 150 members.
03:29The Department of War has shown video of the September 2nd strike to the Gang of Eight
03:34and leadership of the Armed Services and Defense Appropriations Committees.
03:38They'll be made available to all members of the Armed Services Committee this week.
03:42This is exquisite intelligence that supports these actions.
03:47It is certainly appropriate, and it's necessary to protect the United States in our interest.
03:51That's what was presented today.
03:53Different members have different questions.
03:54I hope and assume that all those are being answered.
03:56Thank you all for being here.
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